New beginnings – sort of

A few weeks ago I found myself lying in bed thinking about this website and wondering whether I should just delete it and accept that I wasn’t going to be in business anymore. It was a hard conversation to have with myself, but I couldn’t see anyway to move forward. Fast forward to this week and I have just reopened my Etsy shop (you can get there by clicking the link at the top of the page) for the first time in over two and a half years. Wow!

What happened to change things? I had a couple of lightbulb moments. I just couldn’t get excited about making any of the things I used to make, wasn’t inspired to design anything from those lines, and had pretty much abandoned my studio as the household dumping room for anything that didn’t have a home. Then we had a two week school holiday break for the children where we made no plans – no trips, no big outings, and no commitments. After a few days of mooching around while the kids did their own thing in their own parts of the house I decided that it was time to tackle the sewing room. Which took about 6 hours less than I thought it would, and was not stressful. The light was beginning to shine through the gloom that had been sitting over my creative self.

Then I decided that I needed a tea cosy for my glass teapot to keep it warm when friends dropped in and we drank multiple cups of tea in one sitting. I did a bit of looking around on line and ended up making my own pattern and whipping this up one evening.

That was the first light bulb moment! I found myself wanting to create! I kept making tea cosies, even though I didn’t have a person in mind to give them to. Then I found myself looking at all things tea related online and had my second light bulb moment. By starting to make again, but not sticking to just one method of making (sewing) and not just one type of product (accessories) I could delve into making but instead focus on a common theme. Tea! From there I started down the road of making resusable tea bags. I drink a lot of tea and always put any tea bags in the compost or the worm farm. Recently we emptied the worm farm and dug over the compost and all the tea bags appeared amongst the lovely dirt – not at all broken down. I have since discovered that tea bags are manufactured using plastic! While I often use an infuser I have found that the hinged ones break, and the cup ones aren’t always the right shape for the cup I want to use. The sewing machine came out, the fabric scrap bin was opened and the experimenting began.

After a lot of research I decided that using GOTS certified organic cotton was the safest option, and that using a tighter weave rather than the traditional loose weave muslin would ensure that the bags lasted longer. Then I drank lots of tea (oh the hardship) using various shapes and sizes of the tea bags, decided on the best combination and sat down and began making them. Making them involves cutting, sewing, threading, sewing, turning, ironing each little bag, so they aren’t particularly cheap to make, but I believe that they are a good investment in reducing the amount of plastic we are pouring into the earth.

This morning I got up bright and early and photographed, staged, took more photos, wrote descriptions, edited, wrote different words and finally, after a very long time, pushed the ‘publish’ button to list items for sale in my shop again. It felt good! I have a lot of ideas but have learnt a lot over the years about what works for me, what success looks like for me, and what causes me to become overwhelmed and freeze. This means that I am not putting pressure on myself, and will make and list items when I can. I am a bit proud of these first listings though! Check out my tea cosy collection!

Yes that is eggs and bacon

And even better, yes that is avocado on toast!

I have also used this new found creative surge as an excuse to hit the charity shops in search of teapots to use for sizing the cosies and tea cups to use in making ‘things’, like a pincushion.

And then because I like having a new pincushion for my pins I made another one for my needles, using a pattern from the Lion Brand website.

So there you have it. My creative urge is back and I am back in business, but with a new twist. Let’s see how it goes! There has been a lot happening apart from the creative explosion, but I will save that for another time as there is a pile of crochet calling my name, and some Netflix series to binge watch.

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the little bird

Welcome to a little bird made me! I am Theresa, the little bird who is an artist, making things. My other labels include mother of three, owner of dogs, sheep and chickens, daughter, sister, grower of plants, autism parent, hoarder of fabric and yarn, retired lawyer, gin and tonic appreciator, and tea addict. I am based in rural New South Wales, Australia.

My plan to spend a couple of days getting my house in order and then getting back to work has blown out a bit! Hopefully the path to the sewing room will get cleared today (metaphorically and literally!) and I will reopen my online store with updated listings! I do have some gorgeous new miniature tea sets ready to turn into jewellery, a pile of teabags waiting to be sewn, and wool that is just begging to be turned into something bright and quirky! Stand by for updates on whether I achieve it all!! In the meantime don’t forget that I am presenting a talk on how to price your handmade products at Trove Canberra next week as part of the Design Canberra festivities! ... See MoreSee Less

What a weekend! Apart from sending many tea cosies off to new homes and introducing a lot of people to my reusable tea bags I also got to chat to amazing people! From my Twitter friends who came to say hi in person, to a young boy who discussed the details of Telstra tower in delightful detail and people who love reminiscing about tea cosies from their past it really was quite a wonderful experience! For now I am sitting with my feet up, a cup of herbal tea in hand and contemplating an early night without crochet!! Thank you all! ... See MoreSee Less

The first day of the Handmade Market is finished but there are still plenty of treats to enjoy when we do it all again tomorrow! My cups of tea, made with my reusable teabags, kept me going today!! ... See MoreSee Less